In case you were with us last year, you may remember our first ever interview was with archivist Carol Hopp of the Archives of Ontario. Hopp has an annual tradition where she bases her entire Academy Awards dinner on all of the Best Picture nominees. The challenge is making a fully balanced, operational meal with all of the proper necessities, whilst only working within the nominated universes. Last year, Hopp pulled it off with even some of the trickier nominees (what foods can you make with works like Black Panther?). You can revisit this menu here.

This year, Hopp is at it again. She has graciously shared the 2020 edition of this Academy Awards feast, and we’re posting it just in time for the Academy Awards tomorrow. Luckily, most of these options seem reasonable, and even simple to pull off. We will pair all of Hopp’s menu items with the films they are based off of, but we won’t always devote entire categories to a specific film this year. Why not be as versatile as possible?

It’s time to cook, plan, and get ready for the big night tomorrow. Here are your nominees as dinner options.

Drinks

-Water
-Lime drinks
-Fizzy pops
-Peach juice

“Water is served in several of the movies, and I will always make sure to have it on the table.”, Hopp told us. Luckily, she is referring to sit-down scenes in works like Parasite and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, rather than the disease and rat ridden rivers in 1917. Another suitable alternative is a lime drink of any sort (Amy March “traded pickled limes” in Little Women), or a good old' fashioned Coca-Cola (preferably the retro kind in a glass bottle found in Ford v Ferrari). Seems like a decent variety that still stays on topic. Our own addition, if you so choose, is peach juice (Parasite), but Hopp found other instances for the infamous, allergy-inducing peaches from this thriller. Anyway, it’s great to stay hydrated, especially during this who-knows-how-long ceremony (they always go over their allotted time slot).

Appetizers

-Sliced Peach Platter

See? We told you. All Hopp had to point out was the “housekeeper is allergic to [peaches]” in the film, and that’s all you need to know. Plus, a nice platter of sliced peaches can be a sweet, satisfactory way to start the evening off, especially if you’re hoping for that Parasite Best Picture upset.

Salad

-Wardolf salad with lettuce, apples, and nuts

This is a bit more of an obscure entry, but it’s one that proves Hopp is a skilled researcher, and won’t let any films throw her off of her assignment. Tossing together a Wardolf salad has less to do with Joker, and more involvement with Joaquin Phoenix’s preparation. To slim down to Arthur Fleck’s gaunt state, Phoenix “lost weight by eating lettuce and apples” predominantly. As for the nuts, Hopp says “there is a scene in the movie, in which you see nuts on the table”, and that’s fine by us. It’ll give the salad a bit of a punch, plus this salad can be for those wanting to snack on fruits later into the night; more on that right away.

Healthy Snack

-Watermelon

If you want a bit of a lighter fruit snack during the ceremony, then watermelon is the easiest option. Inspired by the comical sequence in The Irishman, Hopp points out that this is the fruit-of-choice used to sneak alcohol in front of Jimmy Hoffa. Just a reminder that “Hoffa [himself] didn’t like watermelon”, but you can eat it by all means if you do. You don’t have to go full throttle and drench the inside of a whole melon with alcohol like Frank Sheeran. We’d advise against that, given the length of the evening.

Alternative Snacks

-Cherries

If watermelon slices are still not light enough compared to a peach platter, then consider cherries. It’s difficult to find a proper food associated with 1917, but Hopp settled on cherries, given the “cherry blossom scene” which gives the film a sense of hope during its darkest hour. Plus, cherries can go with so many things. You can add them to your salad, or toss them onto your dessert (more on that later). You could go wild and make (or purchase) a cherry pie, but that takes away from the tranquility of the delicate, gentle cherry blossom trees in 1917. However, it’s your Oscars dinner, so you do you.

Main

-Pizza

Our first main is here, and it’s a simple pizza. Any type. However, our only request is that you eat it Charlie Barber style. Hopp says that Barber eats the pizza “folded over, which is a New York City [tradition]”, plus it’s one of the qualities that Nicole Barber points out at the start of Marriage Story. Keep the happier times in mind by folding your slices up, even if it’s just for one evening (if that isn’t your preferred method of eating pizza).

Alternative Mains

-Macaroni and cheese
-Spaghetti and Meatballs

Simple. “[Cliff Booth] eats this while feeding his dog” in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. You don’t have to worry about that vile dog food that poor pit bull Brandy eats, and you shouldn’t serve that to your canine friends that are watching the film either. Plus, a good old macaroni and cheese is easy to make, widely loved, and you can customize it in any way you wish. Alternatively, you could go for a different pasta option and get some spaghetti and meatballs, since Rick Dalton is destined to face his career in “Spaghetti westerns”.

Post-Dinner Snacks

-Biscuits with spreadable cheese and meat

So, we can’t go with grilled unicorn, since they don’t exist (and the meal does look repugnant), but Jojo Rabbit luckily has a better food option. Hopp liked how Elsa tricks the titular Jojo into getting her biscuits, cheeses and meats, since she is apparently “allergic” to those foods and he wants to stop her. If you want some more savoury food options after your dinner without cutting straight towards dessert, then consider a smorgasbord with biscuits, spreadable cheeses, and even some small meats. It could be just enough to tide your hunger over in the latter hours of the ceremony.

Dessert

-vanilla ice cream with chocolate stirred in
-angel food cake with whipped cream topping

Oddly enough, we end the menu the same way we start: with Little Women and Ford v Ferrari. Firstly, that retro ‘60s vanilla ice cream with chocolate stirred into it is reminiscent of the kind they discuss and have in Ford v Ferrari (plus, why not celebrate the end of the ceremony, which may feel longer than the actual Le Mans race?). If you want something a bit more filling (plus easily shareable), then a good old fashioned angel food cake (whipped cream topping works as well) inspired by the Marmee March cake in Little Women is your potential final meal of the evening. Toss on those 1917 cherries or Parasite peach slices if you see fit (onto either dessert options).

We thank Carol Hopp for once again sharing her brilliant Academy Awards dinner ideas. Please visit the Archives of Ontario’s website here, to see the work that Hopp and other fellow Toronto archivists have put into preserving provincial records, films, photographs, and other artifacts.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Creating an Oscar-Worthy Dinner with Film Archivist Carol Hopp 2020 Edition